Hmm, that will be very tough to remove without some plating also. What is it plated with? Perhaps re-plating it would be a solution (assuming you are a player first and not worried about collectibility). This way the metal can be properly taken care of.

Come on, you can learn to play it. Then you don't have to worry about collector value!

Since PW is back around these days, you might want to check in with him, but before doing so you may want to find out what the guitar is plated with. Is the body made of aluminum? Maybe it is just a polished finish, or do you know that it is, in fact, plated with something?